Russia: Media's Ossetia stories biased

MOSCOW, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Russian officials say the Western press is taking Georgia's side in the South Ossetian crisis and have failed to show the plight of the separatists.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said Sunday that Western media aren't showing the devastation of the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, which he said was almost razed by Georgian troops, the Moscow Times reported.

The Times said one program on state-controlled Russian television complained about coverage of the hostilities in U.S. and British media, specifically pointing to an editorial in The Washington Post claiming the Georgian military campaign could keep former Soviet republics from pursuing independent policies and urging the United States to "impose a price on Russia if it does not promptly change course."

But Russian journalists who want to show the bombing campaign Russia has launched against Georgian targets are also finding themselves unable to do so, the newspaper said. And media censorship is also ongoing in Georgia, where access to Russian televisions and Web sites has been blocked, the Times said.